Curt

I don’t think he was referred to as “first choice”, but supposedly Botterill did speak with Krueger before the Housley hire. Krueger wasn’t in a situation to come back to NHL coaching at that time though.

Yes, I mostly subscribe to the notion. Can’t know for sure though, of course. I also subscribe to the notion that Pegula refused to pay the O’Reilly bonus and forced an artificial deadline on the trade. Also unverifiable. Basically any poor Botterill move, I blame on Pegula. ?

I have an unverifiable suspicion that Pegula had heavy influence on the hiring of Housley.

I think so, yes. Hammond will be the 3rd goalie if needed.

Try this again after Sabres lose 3 out of 4, or the Skinner line goes 5 games without a goal. Some people just don’t want to touch a thing because they are afraid that everything will crumble. If the Sabres really are better and/or Krueger really is a very good coach, then everything will not crumble from changing one player.

He should be fired immediately for this??? No, wait. I think that’s wrong. Seriously though, I’ve always liked Botterill’s style of the slow, sometimes cautious, build. Even if I didn’t like every individual move that he’s made. I don’t think this is going to be a 120 point team this season, but I think/hope that we will continue to see gradual improvement with this team over the next couple years. Botterill is good in my book.

I feel like they’ve been getting the opponents top line more often, but that’s just my unscientific observation, could be wrong.

Math can attempt to predict such things, just as anyone who watches games can. Neither will be correct all the time. Which will be right more often, I can’t say for sure.

I have to agree, I think they are getting harder matchups. They haven’t had great results at 5 on 5 as a result I think.

He hasn’t been dominant, for sure, but I see improvement in him as a player that makes me think he can be that. His skating, strength on the puck, physical presence and shot all look better.

Maybe he lost his love for the game again. He should look between the couch cushions, that’s where I always find mine.

I mostly see “driving a line” as being able to advance to puck up the ice, zone exits and entries. Johansson has done more of that I think, while Skinner is more opportunistic, always in position to pounce of chances. Everyone has their own definition for what “driving” is though, which is why I put it in “ “.

I think Dahlin-Jokiharju could be a nice D pair for the next 15 years or so.

I figure they must be somehow saving money doing it, but I don’t know enough to say how. People have told me they aren’t saving on the cap, but if there isn’t a financial benefit, why do it?

Yeah, I find Skinner to be a really interesting player. He doesn’t really “drive” a line, but he is tenacious in all areas of the game, is generally always in the right place, great skater and of course a great finisher. He is that somewhat rare pure goalscorer, who also goes out there and grinds for the puck.

It absolutely is conjecture and commentary, but he had a timeframe for return, was skating, recovering on schedule. Then there was a setback of some sort, he has no timeframe for return, and no one has seen or heard news about him. To me, it seems like it many not be a minor thing.

Applause for usage of The Band, my all time favorite band, as well as all of your fine work on these 50th Anniversary Game Day Threads. ?

1) He had some sort of set back in his recovery from surgery, not really any details out there though. He has been plagued by hip problems so it’s not out of the question that it could be something nearly career ending going on. If he had to have season ending hip surgery, and that didn’t fix his problem, I don’t know what his next step is. 2) Buffalo actually has 5-6 D better than a healthy Bogo. 4 of them RD. Those two things combined make it a real possibility that Bogo never sees the ice for Buffalo ever again.

I don’t think anything changes cap wise. Montour is already counting against the cap. The cap will be fine unless they make a trade that adds salary.

Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I was referencing only what LeBrun said about Risto, not anything Risto said about himself. Its an Athletic article, so I can’t read. I had seen some tweet by LeBrun but didn’t know there was an article until just now.

Trolling? Joking? No #1 pick goes to college after being drafted.

Yeah, I’m quite sure that’s not what he said. He said he was happy and felt that Ralph may be the best coach he’s ever had. Happy players get traded all the time though.

If that’s true then it probably means that they plan to play him regularly. I can’t see the sense of having a 20 yr old ride the bench. He needs to play.

I don’t think they would keep Jokiharju up unless he is going to be playing every game.

Looks like standings from the past couple seasons printed upside down.